Stephen De La Vega

[This is Part 2 of Animal Instincts Trilogy.  Also read Part 1 and Part 3 .] I stepped out of my comfort zone one day and walked into a GRIT Cardio class at the gym.  Well, I wasn’t out of my comfort zone as much as I was out of my lazy zone, but that's another blog.  Either way, the cardio class was still pushing the envelope for me.  GRIT Cardio is a high intensity, teacher-based, half hour span of utter desperation.  After every 1- to 2-minute set of jumps, squats, planks, donkey kicks, and other humanly impossible actions, I wished I could claim my incessant panting as sufficient aerobic exercise for the day. I realize there are certain humans who can manage this insanity while hardly breaking a sweat, but I'm not one of them.  These other humans somehow reached a point where executing the unnatural movements of GRIT Cardio was not as heavy a burden for them as it was for me.  It still takes effort, they still get a workout, but the...

Call us tulips. I claim the dark one. Yeah, I know it's pink, but it's the one that's different, and I feel a little different than the rest of the team. Today I write about my privilege to be 1 of 5 writers for my church’s blog site. I imagine us as 5 tulips.      Have you seen the variegated tulips? Their petals are striped with a different color. A red tulip, for example, might be feathered with random, yellow streaks. These feathered enchantments are intentionally bred, at least the varieties we find in nurseries. But, in the wild, this artful display is really a façade. It is the etching of a viral infection that weakens the plant and diminishes its production. Variegated tulips found in the wild are called “broken” and they can never rid themselves of infection. We are 5 writers  – 5 variegated tulips:  broken, infected, and weak, but transformed to be strong and vibrant, bearing solid color through the blood of Christ and the regenerating wor...

We see colors when light refracts. That’s God’s design. He also designed each of us differently. Do we appreciate the colors when we look at each other? Jesus chose a Samaritan as the good neighbor in Luke 10, and He spoke to a Samaritan woman at a well in John 4. Jesus was a Jew and Jews didn’t like Samaritans, yet when He healed 10 lepers in Luke 17, only a Samaritan cared enough to thank Him. The other 9 were Jews. It’s easy to develop biases and prejudices as we walk through life. Jesus and the Samaritan leper reached beyond the trending prejudice in favor of healing, honor, and gratitude. And the Good Samaritan offered neighborly love instead of prejudice. What biases do we have? What do we tend to believe about… Men. Women. Children. Persons with Special Needs. Parents. Grandparents. In-Laws. School Teachers. Daycare Teachers. Children’s Ministry Workers. Veterans. Incarcerated Persons. Residents of Assisted Living Facilities. Government Workers. Po...

What determines our next steps? Who do we listen to? Do we follow God’s truth? Are we careful to discern and turn away from persuasive lies? We can choose truth. Even in loneliness. Depression. Addiction. Our values can align with God’s. Even in difficult situations. Fear. Disappointment. We can walk confidently. Even when people ridicule us. Turn on us. Bully us. And we can rally around the truth because that’s what God’s children do. In my previous post , I wrote about living an authentic Christian life. An authentic child of God obeys Him, loves Him, and loves His children. Simple prescription. Hard to swallow. But, if that isn’t hard enough, the letters of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John also warn us about people and things that directly oppose our authenticity.  Identity thieves try to rob us of it and replace it with anything contrary to God. Identity thieves are in our midst and they are cunning and intentional. If we’re not careful, we could adopt and even thrive...